IrrE biobrick for lubricant

IrrE This construct already exists in the registry, however, we wanted to expand the pre-existing functionality. Here we have shown that this gene goes beyond helping growth in high salt concentration solutions by demonstrating that it actually exists bacterial growth in lubricant.
To achieve this we used lubricant from the market, specifically, Superdrug to demonstrate this in order to prove the gene would be functional in real-world conditions.
Our results indicate our proof of concept that under simulated conditions to be a success. This is because E. coli transformed with IrrE had improved growth in LB and lubricant compared to wild type.
We believe this is the first step to demonstrate that a living organism would be capable of living in lubricant.

Our functionality for our GMO lubricant would be two fold. Initially we envisaged an STI-detecting lubricant which would change colour when in contact with an organism such as syphilis and chlamydia trachomatis.
When talking about ageing most of the diseases and implications that come to mind are quite obvious: loss of sight, hearing or mental capacity, arthritis and many more. One that doesn’t come to mind very often are Sexually Transmitted Infections, such as chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhoea. The fact of the matter is that between 2007 and 2011 the number of chlamydia and syphilis increased by 31%and respectively 52% in the American population over the age of 65. 1This may initially come as a surprise but it is a reality nowadays, especially in elderly care facilities.

With people living for longer, medication countering the effects of erectile dysfunction and a lot of free time it can be crudely compared to an American frat house. This might not yet be seen as a problem as people of all ages should be able to enjoy themselves however they want to. Yet the real problems start when there are secondary effects from the STIs, such as arthritis, vision loss and other symptoms. Those will usually be classified as just age-related problems and treated as such, rather than being treated appropriately.

However, it came to our attention the array of medical conditions that require lubricant, especially those associated with the elderly. We saw the potential of the addition of a safe GMO within them to prevent bacterial infections.
In hospitals nowadays it is very common to have a urinary catheter inserted to drain the bladder. Catheters can either be intermittent, where they are only inserted temporarily and removed as soon as the bladder is empty, or indwelling, where they are in place for a prolonged period of time (days or weeks.[i]) The NHSN (National Healthcare Safety Network) had found that in the EU around 17.5% of hospital patients need indwelling catheters: 45-79% of which were in a critical care unit, 17% in the medical ward, 23% in the surgical ward and 9% in rehabilitation[ii]. Around about 73% of the patients receiving these catheters are above the age of 65. Now the problem arises as about 28% of these elderly patients will develop a UTI (urinary tract infection), due to the use of a urinary catheter. 60-80% of patients with indwelling catheters receive antimicrobials to counteract asymptomatic bacteriuria, which can lead to microbial resistance. In practice catheter lubricant is used to try to reduce the risk of infection, pain, friction and general discomfort.[iii]